at a time when there was little joy in a war torn country, Loris Malaguzzi spoke these words, "nothing without joy," as a verbal acknowledgment of the reasons why we educate young children. These words bring meaning and focus to my life and above all they are a description of my heart which beats to love people, to teach young children, and to grow in spirit, truth, and love daily...

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Life Update... finally, huh?

My mama recently sent me a rather expensive gift via Express mail.... a Tiffany Charm bracelet that I had to pay almost a thousand koruna in order to retrieve from the Ceska Posta. It was worth every koruna because although I knew it was coming, she surprised me by having it engraved with "I will go..." words from a song I learned in Mexico with the youth group... words to live by... words that resonate as the beat of my heart. My mama is the most thoughtful ever!

This building is engraved with gold Hebrew and is located in one of Prauge's Jewish neighborhoods. It is one of the most beautiful buildings sent in the middle of a boring street. I discovered this beauty while touring Marsha and Carol around this weekend. Marsha is the art studio teacher at Helen Gordon in Portland where I used to work. She and her sister, Carol, were on a European adventure and stopped in Prauge for the weekend. It was so lovely to see someone from home. We took in the Museum of Decorative Arts, toured various areas of the city, ate at Cantina (my new favorite Mexican restaurant!!), and watched pay per view in their hotel with a couple bottles of wine and french pastries. It was a relaxing and fun weekend.This is the dancing building, also known as the Fred and Ginger building. It is Prauge's most modern building. When the wind is strong and your body moves side to side it seems as if the buildings really are dancing! This is the first time I have seen the dancing building up close since I moved here. Truly stunning!On Friday, some of us newcomers were sent on a little day trip to Berlin for our visa paperwork. It was quite the adventure because Berlin is HUGE. We made our appointment (two house late, oops) but they still issued the stamps and sent us on our way. After a lovely meal of Chines food (which was actually quite good) we drove around the city. It was amazing to see part of the Berlin wall that still stands today. Scott, a fellow co-worker at ISP, was kind enough to tour us around the city. It was phenomenal to hear all the knowledge he has about the history in Berlin. I am excited to take a weekend adventure there again and see some of the museums. The above picture is a bit of pop culture.... The Hotel Adlon is where Michael Jackson was photographed hanging his baby off the balcony. I though it was worth a photo...

Last week was a doozy... I started a full week with children and parents settling into the classroom for 2 1/2 hours a day... but it was exhausting! This week I am looking forward to having the children in the classroom from 8-12. The rest of the afternoon is spent working with my aides and prepping the classroom. I still have many meetings in the afternoons. One thing I am really looking forward to this school year is the library that is located in the school. I no longer have to go to the public library to check out books on my own card for the classroom, run up late fees, lose books etc... no no, instead I can check them out in our school library which has a children's section that is exceptional! AND, when I change units in the classroom, all I have to do is email the librarian and she will pull a stack of books from the shelves for me to look at and check out! Amazing! The weather is changing from Summer to Autumn- the skies are orangy/purple at night and the air is cooler and cooler each week. It is beautiful. Life is still good in Prauge. Have a good week and hopefully my internet will be fully functional this week so I can blog more often!! -- Nikki

1 comment:

Nikki, I'm so glad you received your bracelet! Your Mom told me the whole story and showed me the bracelet before she sent it. I loved the story and you're right... your Mom is very thoughtful :-) Linda